For those of you asking just what IS a get up, check out this tutorial for the basics.

I know, I know. The get up is boring and monotonous…and the floor is too hard…and it hurts your brain to remember all the steps. To all of this I say YES…BUT…

Hear me out.

There are three BIG and bold reasons (and countless little ones) that the get up should be in everybody’s toolbox.

1) It strengthens and mobilizes shoulders and hips.
Most conventional strength moves (squat, deadlift, press) promote explosive movement. The get up is the yin to the yang of heavy lifting. The balance and stability required in the get up allow us to develop slow and controlled strength, in fact, the slower the better. It requires the shoulder to find stability in anterior, lateral, and overhead positions while moving through multiple planes of motion. It promotes core strength by creating connections between the upper and lower body while steering the kettlebell through a variety of planes and angles. And it improves leg drive and hip mobility through the sweep, hinge back, and step up/back.

2) It promotes proprioceptive awareness.
Proprio-what? Yes, proprioceptive awareness–your body’s understanding of where it is in space. Whether you are balance-challenged or looking to move more like Michael Jordan (or for those in the under-40 set, the Greek Freak…Go Bucks!), unless you’re an Olympic gymnast, you can likely improve your proprioceptive awareness. The “Big 3” of strength training — squat, deadlift, press — only take us through one plane of motion. The get up takes us from lying down to standing up through all three planes of motion, while stabilizing a weight overhead. Want an even bigger proprioceptive challenge? Lose the weight and practice get ups with a shoe on your fist and your eyes closed. Closing the eyes slows things down and assists in grooving movement patterns through multiple avenues that promote visualization and further challenge proprioception. The loss of one sense makes the others work harder to know where your arms and legs are in space, recruiting more core engagement to maintain balance.

Not looking to move like a ninja? This movement improves even the simplest of tasks. More than one client has come back to us post-surgery to tell us how they applied get up principles just to get out of bed.

3) It’s meditative.
The slower pace of the get up allows you to focus more on how you move instead of how much (weight) you move. Each position provides an opportunity to breathe, check in, and adjust, allowing time to assess how the body is feeling in each plane of movement. For this reason, get ups make an ideal warm up and/or cool down for other workouts. Done well, it is an aesthetically beautiful movement. Even your face should be relaxed — no ugly “poop faces” like we see in the deadlift.

Todd Cambio sums it up best in his article on the Spartan website: “For me, the Turkish get-up is learning to move strong with controlled coordinated movements. I simply consider it loaded yoga.”

It might not be as sexy as a 300 pound deadlift (“poop face” aside), but the Turkish Get Up does it all. You can work it heavy, unweighted, slow or fast. In fact, we think it’s so useful, we made it the focus of this year’s Holiday Streaker Challenge!

Join us Saturday, November 17th, 7:30-8:30am, to learn more about the magic of the get up. We’ll go over the basics, introduce our Holiday Streaker Challenge, and learn variations that will keep that get up spicy. Space is limited to 10. Save your spot here.